Shan Tuyet – special tea on the top of Suoi Giang

Green tea has long been a drink of many countries around the world, each with its own tea and tea culture. Vietnam, too, is a tropical country, suitable conditions for growing many kinds of tea leaves, to meet the needs of users enjoy, especially the Northwest Shan Tuyet tea.

Suoi Giang Commune in Van Chan area of Yen Bai Province is a very interesting tourist place, where it is 1,371m above sea level, cool all year round, temperate climate. One characteristic of Suoi Giang is the H'mong tea culture which is most famous for Shan Tuyet tea.

Yen Bai where the scenic majesty, abundant nature but the most prominent here is the Shan Tuyet tea, Shan Tuyet tea is a natural plant, usually grows in mountains with elevations of 1000 m or more on. Because of its unique terrain, Shan Tuyet tea is also very special, the tea buds and tea leaves are large, tea leaves can be enlarged by thumb, tea leaves are larger than a hand.

Called Shan Tuyet tea, as being explained by local people, with a special processing technique, the fresh tea buds which as big as banian buds, coated with lanugo, after being processed are still big, covered with a milky layer of “snow,” shiny, aromatic scents, along with a smoke inhalation, so it is called Shan Tuyet (snow). When drinking, the tongue will feel the bitter sweet taste and then the persistent sweetness in the throat.

If visitors go to Suoi Giang in the tea harvesting and processing season, they will smell a characteristic flavor of this tea region. Due to the special climate here, locals do not have to use any kind of pesticides because insects cannot develop. In the winter, there is no sun and fog covers the entire region. The tea buds are also covered by fog and you will feel a biting cold on their fingers when they pick tea buds.

Suoi Giang’s ancient Shan Tuyet tea has been traditionally considered one of the most delicious drinks from tea products from all tea regions of the country. The tea trees here are over 300 years old. Their trunks and buds are very big, which make them different from other types of tea. Shan Tuyet tea varieties converges all three factors: aroma, strong taste and blue water. Especially, the tea, from harvest until processing, is produced by manual methods of the Mong ethnic people here.

The ideal time to enjoy a wonderful cup of Suoi Giang tea is in August or September when the last tea harvested season happens. You can travel by cars or motorcycles from Van Chan town over 12 kilometers around cliffs and primitive forests to Suoi Giang. Besides Suoi Giang tea, Van Chan is famous for the beauty of the Mong ethnic group, Tu Le sticky rice, Muong Lo rice, hot spring of Bon village, Hoc hamlet…